Boeing will deliver the Air Force’s 223rd and final C-17 to service officials on Sept. 12 during a ceremony at the company’s assembly plant in Long Beach, Calif., company C-17 spokeswoman Tiffany Pitts told the Daily Report on Wednesday. That same day, the C-17 will make the cross-country trip to JB Charleston, S.C., its beddown location. Upon the aircraft’s arrival, the base will hold its own ceremony to celebrate the delivery, said Charleston spokesman Capt. Frank Hartnett. Gen. Paul Selva, head of Air Mobility Command, is scheduled to attend Charleston’s ceremony, said Hartnett. So, too, is Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, Air National Guard director, and Lt. Gen. James Jackson, Air Force Reserve Command boss, said Hartnett. Base officials have also invited former AMC commanders and former Charleston wing commanders to attend, he said. Charleston is home to more than 50 of the Air Force’s C-17s; the Air Force’s first production C-17 arrived there in June 1993.
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…
